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Photo by ANN HERMES/APPackard Plant sold for $6M
The now abandoned Packard manufacturing site in Detroit produced luxury cars until the 1950s. On Friday, it was sold at auction for more than $6 million, to a woman in Texas. Story

Roxbury Group co-founder named city's deputy EM

Stacy Fox

Stacy Fox, co-founder of Detroit-based real estate development group The Roxbury Group, was named deputy emergency manager for the city of Detroit. Fox, 60, will also serve as Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr's chief of staff, replacing Shani Penn, who was hired as Gov. Rick Snyder's senior strategy adviser on Southeast Michigan issues and initiatives, according to a news release.

On the move

• After eight seasons and two World Series appearances with the Detroit Tigers, Jim Leylandannounced his retirement as manager. Leyland, 68, will assume a to-be-determined consultant role with the team.

• The Battle Creek-based W.K. Kellogg Foundation named Detroit native La June Montgomery Tabron, 51, as president and CEO, effective Jan. 1. Tabron, the foundation's executive vice president of operations and treasurer, will succeed Sterling Speirn, who is leaving to pursue new opportunities, the foundation said.

• Former Kaydon Corp. Chairman and CEO James O'Learyturned over management of the Ann Arbor friction control products manufacturer to Poul Jeppesen, CEO of SKF AB subsidiary SKF USA Inc., netting almost $3.4 million for his shares in the SKF deal.

• Minneapolis-based law firm Foley & Mansfield PLLP named Howard Wallach managing partner for its Michigan practice with offices in Ferndale and Grand Rapids. A partner at the firm since 2006, Wallach replaces Gary Sharp, who will remain as a partner in Ferndale and chairman of the firm's toxic tort practice.

Company news

Photo by Retro Fitness
Retro Fitness plans to expand to Michigan, starting with a location in Pontiac set to open later this year.

• German automotive supplier Kiekert AG is investing $2 million in its U.S. headquarters in Wixom. Employment at the location, which produces door-latch modules, is expected to increase from 80 to more than 120 within the next 12 months, a spokesman said.

• Four Southeast Michigan companies — Ypsilanti-based Kalitta Air LLC, Detroit-based FutureNet Group Inc., Livonia-based Beaver Aerospace & Defense Inc. and Ann Arbor-based AVFuel Corp. — could receive more than $80 million over the next six years under new contracts awarded by the U.S. Department of Defense.

• Retro Fitness LLC, which has 95 locations in 12 states, will open its first Michigan gym, at the Tel-Huron Shopping Center in Pontiac, by the end of 2013. A spokesman said the Colts Neck, N.J.-based company plans to open 25 to 30 gyms in metro Detroit within the next three to five years.

• The Warren-based St. John Providence Health Systemis relocating nearly 100 employees involved with customer service, physician scheduling and information services into the IBM Building in Southfield, where it now rents space for other staff. The relocation is expected to be completed by February.

• Delta Air Linesis introducing a second flight from Detroit to London in June. The addition will mark the first time Detroit Metropolitan Airport has had two daily flights to London since 2008, an airport official said.

Other news

• Detroit's deal with swaps investors threatened the city's best source of cash in the months before it filed for municipal bankruptcy, investment banker Kenneth Buckfire said in a trial to determine whether the city can remain under court protection from creditors, Bloomberg reported. "The city was operating on a razor's edge," said Buckfire, co-president of Stifel Financial Corp.'s New York City-based Miller Buckfire & Co.

• Emails and documents exchanged between members of Gov. Rick Snyder's administration while deliberating over candidates for Detroit's emergency manager job cannot be released, Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Maria Oxholm ruled. Union activist Robert Davis had sued to have the information released.

• The University of Michigan's long-term endowment portfolio returned an annualized 10.2 percent over the 10-year period ended June 30, according to the university's 2013 annual report.

• University of Michigan regents approved a 30-acre, $6.5 million track for testing automated vehicles. The Ann Arbor News reported that the track will be located on the North Campus and will be part of the Mobility Transportation Center launched in May.

• The Detroit Public Lighting Authority announced that new streetlights would be installed in the areas bounded by Eight Mile, Kelly and Hoover roads, and Houston-Whittier Avenue on the east side; and McNichols Road, the Southfield Freeway, Fenkell Street and Telegraph Road on the city's west side.

• The fifth annual Brand Camp, whose parent company is Detroit-based Brand Camp University, brought more than 300 founders, innovators and investors from across the country to Compuware Corp. headquarters in Detroit to show off the city's rebranding as a hub of tech and entrepreneurship.

• The Clark Lofts in Detroit's Capitol Park district will go on sale next month. The starting bid for the 10-story, 15-unit loft building on Grand River Avenue, reportedly 100 percent occupied, is $1.1 million.

• The Detroit Lionswill play the Atlanta Falcons at London's Wembley Stadium in 2014 as part of the National Football League's ongoing international series of overseas games, the league said. The date of the game has yet to be determined, but it will be played during the regular season and is to be considered a Lions road game and a home game for the Falcons.

• Democrat Bobby McKenzieannounced his campaign for the seat held by first-term Republican Kerry Bentivolio in Michigan's 11th Congressional District. Dearborn Heights native McKenzie, 39, is a former counterterrorism expert at the U.S. State Department and was a walk-on basketball player at Michigan State University.

• The Michigan Strategic Fund board voted to invest up to $4.5 million total in two venture capital funds focused on growing businesses in metro Detroit, the Detroit Innovate Fund I LP and Detroit Venture Partners LP. The money comes from the Pure Michigan Venture Development Fund.

• The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality said it is developing new rules dealing with the natural gas development process known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. Officials announced proposed changes intended to protect fresh water supplies and provide more public information about fracking operations.

• A draft of a Michigan state government report concludes utility companies have exceeded their targeted goals for energy efficiency. The report, issued by the Michigan Public Service Commission and the Michigan Energy Office, also said customers have saved $3.55 in electricity costs for every $1 invested in energy efficiency.

Obituaries

• Alfred Warren Jr., former General Motors vice president of industrial relations, died Oct. 11. He was 87.